The library of the John F. Kennedy Institute started to systematically develop its comic collection, that has been existing since the early seventies, in 2013. With the help of the Einstein Foundation we were able to buy more than 500 collections of historical newspaper comic strips, superhero anthologies from all ages, collections of important artists and writers, graphic novels and other current and historical examples of North American graphic narrative art.

As part of a cooperation with the Comic Arts Collection at Michigan State University we additionally started collecting comic books. Michigan State University will give us double issues from its collection as a continuing donation to the library. The donations span genres and time periods from Action Comics of the 1960s and 70s to science fiction comics from the 1980s and current superhero comics.

In 2015 Wolfgang J. Fuchs donated his collection of "National Lampoon" and "Crazy" to the library. Both have been popular humor magazines in the 70s and 80s and contain lots of comics, cartoons, fumetti and written pieces. Thus they complement the library’s collection of comic books. 

Together with other popular primary sources as movies, tv series, magazines or newspapers, comics serve as a regular source for research and teaching  at the John F. Kennedy Institute. They are of special interest to the Research Unit "Popular Seriality — Aesthetics and Practice".

The comic collection is also part of the project Specialized information service Anglo-American Culture.

 

 

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Access to the Comic Collection

Most of the comics are located in our free stacks and are available for check out according to our lending policy.

List of all comics available for check out (including secondary literature)

Comic books are located in our closed stacks and can be ordered for reading room use via PRIMO.

List of all comic books (reading room use only)

 

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Comics in Databases

Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels

The database covers the full spectrum of this visual art form, from pre-comics code era works to modern sequential releases from artists all over the world . It contains more than 75.000 pages of original material. Interviews, theoretical and critical texts on comics research and all issues of The Comics Journal are also included in the database

 

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More Links for Comics Research

• Comic Art Collection Michigan State University.
  The Library offers several indices for subject specific research in their vast comic collection.

• Grand Comics Database
  This fan project has records for more than  one million comic books.

• Comic Book Religion
  Offers an index for queries about topics, characters and their religion, ideology or profession.

• Comic Vine
  Contains detailed descriptions for a vast amount of comic characters and documents their appearance in comic books and series.